The suspect, Brandon Alexander Perez, 31, who lives at a halfway house nearby, was found cowering in the bushes when police arrived.

Perez has a rap sheet that includes other burglary and narcotics charges and was on parole, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Cooper's gun, which she has owned for about 20 years, was legally purchased and properly registered, he said.

"Even though that dog was barking, he still was desperate to get in. So who knows what may have happened if she didn't fire that round," Amormino said.

Cooper said she is amazed by the anger in her voice — and the curse word she let fly — after she fired the shot.

"I am a Christian woman and I'm very proud of it and I don't curse, but after I shot, rage took hold and I just blasted away," she said. "And, in fact, afterward my husband said, 'I've never heard you talk like that!'"